I. INTRODUCTION
The focus of our preaching must be on the cross of Christ. There are many ideas, philosophies, or political opinions that the enemy would like to have us focus our preaching on. But it is imperative that the "foolishness of the cross" be central to all that we declare. The cross is what makes Christianity powerful, scandalous, mysterious, and even confusing. Yet the cross is our glory, for in its shame we are redeemed from our sinfulness into the glorious salvation of Christ. In this modern day, as it has always been, the cross is foolishness to intellectuals, inhumane to liberals, and an offense to the self-righteous. In the cross we see both God’s wrath upon our sinfulness and His mercy extended to us. Without the cross there would be no Christianity, no redemption, no way for fallen humanity to be reunited with their Maker.
The focus of the gospel is the cross. This is seen very clearly in the Gospel according to Mark. Mark, in his account of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, focuses his narration of the gospel story around the cross of Christ. He is the first theologian of the cross to use the literary vehicle of a gospel narrative. The entire Gospel of Mark is centered around the Passion of Christ.
Throughout his entire narrative, Mark foreshadows what will occur at the climax of his story -- the cross. The foreshadowings not only prepare the reader for the conclusion of Christ’s earthly ministry in His passion, resurrection, and ascension; but also show that Christ laid down His life willingly (His enemies could not take it from Him in all their evil attempts), and Christ understood this sacrifice was an atonement for sin.
The epitome of Markan atonement theology is expressed in Christ’s statement in Mark 10:45, the institution of the Lord’s Supper in Mark 14:22-24, Christ’s cry of agony in Mark 15:34, and the rending of the veil in Mark 15:38.
II. FULFILLMENT OF THE SUFFERING SERVANT (Mark 10:45)
A. Mark 10:45 "for even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many."
B. What is a Ransom?
1. λυτρον is the price of release, specifically the money paid for the release of slaves.
2. λυτρον is the theological term often used to refer to Israel’s redemption from Egyptian bondage.
3. λυτρον is the price paid to effect the release of one who is in some kind of bondage, and that the meaning of this word was extended to include the payment for release from guilt and penalty.
4. λυτρον is singular because it refers to the one sacrifice of Christ’s life that is efficacious for many, in contrast to the never-ending sacrifices which were practiced throughout the Old Testament economy.
5. In this context, λυτρον is not referring to a money price, but rather an expiatory sacrifice.
6. λυτρον alludes to Isaiah 53:10-11 and is to be understood in the sense of the Hebrew Word asham which is "an offering for sin, an atonement offering."
7. By laying down His life for a mankind who is enslaved to sin, Jesus fulfills the Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 53:10-11 concerning the Suffering Servant.
C. Christ our substitute
1. αντι denotes the idea of "in the place of, in exchange for, and instead of."
2. αντι clearly refers to the substitutionary significance of Christ’s death.
D. In this saying, Christ is alluding to Isaiah 53, and revealing that He is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of the Suffering Servant.
E. In Christ’s self-understanding of His mission, he realized that his vicarious death was a fulfillment of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53.
F. Isaiah 53:3-7 & 10, "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hat borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."
III. FULFILLMENT OF OLD TESTAMENT SHADOWS (Mark 14:22-24)
A. Mark 14:22-24 "And while they were eating, after He had taken bread, after He had blessed (it), He broke (it) and gave (it) to them and said, ’Take, this is my body.’ And after He had taken the cup, after He had given thanks, He gave (it) to them, and all of them drank out of it. And He said to them, ’This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out in behalf of many.’"
B. ευλογησας, "blessing," is used in the Septuagint for the Hebrew barak. They state that the Jewish blessing spoken over the bread was, "Blessed be thou, O Lord our God, king of the world, who causes bread to come forth from the earth."
C. The blessing and breaking were part of the usual Passover ritual, however, Jesus gave a new meaning to this right by adding the words, "τουτο εστιν το σωμα μου."
1. Thus His whole celebration of the Passover was an acted parable, the meaning of which harmonized with His teaching concerning His vicarious death, and would become clearer to the disciples after His death.
2. The disciples would then see that the Passover did not merely commemorate the historical deliverance from Egypt, but also symbolized a greater deliverance by the sacrifice of Christ’s own life.
D. "το αμα μου της διαθηκης" is modelled after Exodus 24:8, "And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words."
1. The blood of the covenant is the blood that ratifies or seals the covenant that God made with His people, both in the Old Testament and New economies.
2. In Exodus 24:8, the sprinkling of the dedicated blood is the means by which the people now share in the covenant made at Sinai.
3. The sayings of Christ reflect upon this, "as of old, dedicated blood was applied in blessing to the people of Israel, so now my life surrendered to and accepted by God, is now offered and made available for men. Of this life, the wine is both the symbol and the means by which it is appropriated."
E. διαθηκη primarily signifies a disposition of property by will or otherwise.
1. In the Septuagint it is the rendering of a Hebrew word berith, meaning covenant, or agreement (from a verb signifying to cut or divide, in allusion to a sacrifice custom in connection with covenant making).
2. However, though this word can be translated into English as covenant, which in English signifies the mutual undertaking of two parties or more, each binding himself to fulfil obligations, διαθηκη does not contain the idea of joint obligation.
3. It rather signifies an obligation undertaken by a single person. Διαθηκη is in contrast with συνθηκη which implies an agreement reached by a settlement between two parties who stand as equals. In the Old Testament, berith, and in the New Testament, διαθηκη, are God’s covenants with His people which He alone has drawn up, proposed and executed.
4. The covenant is that relationship of lordship and obedience which God Himself establishes with men, and the blood of the covenant is the sign of its existence and the means by which it is effected. Jesus establishes a conscious relationship to the older covenants of Israel by the use of μου with αμα, "my blood of the covenant."
5. Christ was establishing a new covenant, but that covenant was grounded in the former covenant that God instituted with Israel. This new covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, just as the former covenant was ratified by blood.
F. These prophetic statements by Christ on the night before His passion clearly indicate that He realized the vicarious nature of His death.
G. Their recording in Mark’s gospel narrative shows that Mark understood Christ not only to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant, but also the fulfillment of customs of Jewish ceremony, specifically the Passover.
H. Mark understood that the rites of Judaism were a shadow of what Christ was in reality.
1. Though this doctrine is theologically developed by the writer to the Hebrews, it is implied by Mark in his narrative.
2. As is clearly seen by the institution of the Lord’s Supper, Christ’s atoning sacrifice that delivers men from the bondage of sin is the fulfillment of the shadow of the Passover rite which had only symbolized the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage.
IV. FULL PAYMENT OF SIN (Mark 15:34)
A. Mark 15:34, "and during the ninth hour, Jesus cried by means of a great voice, ’Eloi Eloi lema sabachthani? Which is translated, ’My God, my God, why did you forsake me?"
B. The darkness of Mark 15:33 is linked with the cry of agony in Mark 15:34 in that the darkness indicates the extreme agonizing content of the cry.
C. During the three hours of darkness, Jesus suffered indescribable agonies while He was being made a curse for us, while being wounded for our transgressions.
D. The darkness exemplified the judgment of God upon our sins, in that His wrath was administered on Jesus, our Substitute, who suffered the most intense agony, indescribable woe, and terrible isolation.
E. Because of this agony, Christ finally cries out in Mark 15:34.
F. The theological implications of the fact that God had to abandon the Son are tremendous.
1. Because the Son had taken upon Himself the sin of the world, God, because of His uncompromising holiness, had to abandon His Son.
2. This abandonment was a part of the payment that the Son had to make to fully pay the penalty of sin.
3. After this agonizing abandonment, Christ died, having paid the full price for man’s redemption.
V. FULFILLMENT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ECONOMY (Mark 15:38)
A. Mark 15:38 "And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."
B. The rending from top to bottom indicates that the veil was torn by the unseen hand of God, from heaven to earth, to show that the old way (the Old Testament economy of sacrifices and rites) into the earthly Holy of holies was no more.
C. There were two curtains in the ancient tabernacle and in the temple. One was at the outer entrance to the Holy place, usually called καλυμμα , and one was between the Holy place and the Holy of holies, always called καταπετασμα.
D. Mark’s correlation of the two separate, yet simultaneous, historical facts of Christ’s death and the rending of the veil, shows his understanding that the death of Christ both ended the Old Testament economy and also gave all men access to the very presence of God.
E. The theological implications of this are explained in Hebrews 10:19-20. This passage teaches that through the death of Christ, the way into the Holy of holies is opened, symbolized by the tearing of the veil, to all who apply the efficacious death of Christ to their lives.
VI. CONCLUSION
Though the scope of this discussion has by no means given a thorough discussion of Mark’s emphasis on atonement in his gospel narrative, it is apparent that Mark understood the vicarious nature of Christ’s death, and also that Christ’s atoning death was the fulfillment of both the Old Testament prophecies and foreshadowings of the better things to come in Christ. Mark realized, from both the sayings of Christ and the miraculous events that surrounded His death, that His death was the full payment for the penalty and curse of sin.
